HOUSTON—Until Saturday, Jordan Dodson’s senior season at Rice was mostly forgettable. But an unexpected start led to a big day for Dodson and his teammates in their biggest game of the year.

Dodson, who entered the game hitting just .167, went 3-for-3 with four RBIs to lead Rice past Texas A&M 9-7 in the opener of the best-of-three Houston Super Regional series.

“Coach (Wayne Graham) told me earlier this week to be ready,” said Dodson, who also walked and scored twice. “He told me to get ready for some at-bats this weekend, but I was surprised to get the start. Today, I just saw my pitches and went with it.”

Left-handed reliever Cole St. Clair gave up just one run over the final 4 1-3 innings, bringing the Owls (46-13) within one win of their third straight College World Series appearance and seventh since 1997.

Chad Mozingo and J.P. Padron added two hits apiece for the Owls, who have won four straight games in the postseason and haven’t lost in the regional or super regional round since 2006.

St. Clair (10-2) allowed two hits and struck out three.

“This is the kind of game that we needed, and we got contributions from all over our lineup,” Graham said. “We did a great job with the base runners we had, and Cole was Cole.”

With the game tied 6-6 in the fifth, the Owls scored three runs with two outs against Kyle Thebeau (6-5). Jimmy Comerota and Mozingo started the rally with walks and scored on a double by Dodson, who later came home on an error by A&M first baseman Luke Anders.

The Aggies (46-18), who lost to Rice in the super regionals last year, had tied the game with three runs in the top of the fifth, highlighted by doubles from Anders and Darby Brown.

Starters Ryan Berry and Brooks Raley were ineffective and didn’t factor in the decision.



Florida State 14

Wichita State 4

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Florida State scored five times in the third inning and Matt Fairel pitched eight solid innings to lead the Seminoles to a victory over Wichita State and force a deciding third game in their super regional series.

The Seminoles (53-12) chased Shockers ace Aaron Shafer, a second-round pick of the Chicago Cubs, in the third inning, the shortest stint of his career. Stuart Tapley homered and Dennis Guinn dealt the final blow with a two-run single, driving in the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.

Wichita State (48-16) saw its 10-game winning streak end against a Florida State team that has scored 10 or more runs in five of seven NCAA postseason games. The 14 runs allowed were the most by the Shockers this season.

Fairel (12-2) settled down after surrendering three runs in the first to the Shockers. At one point the sophomore left-hander retired 12 consecutive batters leading up to Mitch Caster’s leadoff home run in the eighth. He struck out six, did not allow a walk and scattered nine hits.

Shafer (11-4) allowed 10 hits and eight earned runs in his first loss since May 10.



North Carolina State 10

Georgia 6

ATHENS, Ga.—North Carolina State scored four runs in the seventh inning and forced a deciding third game in its super regional series against Georgia.

Jeremy Synan, Ryan Pond, Tommy Foschi and Russell Wilson each had two RBIs for N.C. State (42-21), seeking its second College World Series appearance and first since 1968.

Georgia (40-23-1), which is 4-0 in elimination games this year at Foley Field and 15-0 in ballpark history, is attempting to make the College World Series’ field of eight teams for the third time in five years.

Bulldogs starter Nathan Moreau (4-2) lasted just 2 2-3 innings for the Southeastern Conference regular-season champions, giving up four runs, five hits, two walks and striking out two.

Jake Buchanan (2-2) earned the win after allowing three runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings.



North Carolina 9

Coastal Carolina 4

CARY, N.C.—Alex White threw seven strong innings and Seth Williams homered to lead North Carolina past mistake-prone Coastal Carolina in the opener of the teams’ super regional series.

Williams, Kyle Seager and Kyle Shelton drove in two runs apiece for the Tar Heels (50-12), who turned the Chanticleers’ season-high six errors into six unearned runs and moved within one victory of their third straight trip to the College World Series.

White (10-3) struck out six and allowed eight hits on a sweltering day in which the temperature surpassed 100 degrees by the fourth inning and the heat index reached 106.

Coastal Carolina (50-13) pieced together two hits in the fourth against White before Dock Doyle raced home on his wild pitch to make it a 3-1 game, but White and the Tar Heels didn’t let them get any closer.

Bobby Gagg (6-3) took the loss.



Friday’s games

Wichita State 10

Florida State 7

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run homer and the Wichita State Shockers came through with clutch hits when they needed them to defeat Florida State in the NCAA Super Regional opener.

The Shockers (48-15) used a third-inning, two-run homer from Tyler Weber to erase a 1-0 deficit. Gillaspie hit a three-run shot in the sixth to open up a 9-3 lead.

Five of Wichita State’s runs came courtesy of walks or hit batters by FSU starter Elih Villanueva (7-3) or reliever Jimmy Marshall.

Florida State (52-12), the No. 4 national seed, is facing elimination for the second consecutive week following the first game of a postseason tournament. The Seminoles rallied from an opening regional loss with four consecutive victories for the title.

Dennis Guinn and Buster Posey hit home runs for the Seminoles.

Wichita State starter Rob Musgrave (12-1) held the Seminoles down through 5 2-3 innings before running out of steam in the sixth.



Georgia 11

North Carolina State 4

ATHENS, Ga.—Trevor Holder pitched a career-high 8 2-3 innings, and Georgia’s offense was overpowering for the fifth straight game in a victory over North Carolina State.

With a victory over the Wolfpack on Saturday, Georgia would win the best-of-three series and advance to the College World Series for the third time in five years

The Bulldogs have a five-game winning streak since losing 10-7 to Lipscomb on May 30. Georgia has outscored opponents in those games by a combined 39 runs.

Holder (8-4) allowed four runs—two earned—and seven hits before leaving to a standing ovation.

Gordon Beckham, drafted No. 8 overall by the Chicago White Sox and the Southeastern Conference player of the year, had a two-run double that gave Georgia its first lead at 3-2.

Joey Lewis and Miles Starr also drove in two runs each.

Clayton Shunick (7-6) allowed eight hits, three walks and struck out six in 5 1-3 innings. The right-hander’s eight earned runs were the most in two years at N.C. State.



Arizona 6, Miami 3, 11 innings

CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Jon Gaston hit a three-run homer in the top of the 11th for Arizona.

Gaston, a seventh-round draft choice by the Houston Astros earlier Friday, drove Miami reliever Carlos Gutierrez’s 1-1 pitch over the fence in right field for his 12th home run of the season.

Gutierrez (5-3) struck out the first two hitters in the 11th, but hit Colt Sedbrook with an 0-2 pitch. Brad Glenn followed with a single before Gaston’s decisive shot.

Jason Stoffel (4-2) pitched three scoreless innings and struck out five for the win. Game 2 of the best-of-three series between Arizona (42-17) and Miami (50-9) will be Saturday night.



Stanford 4

Cal State Fullerton 3

FULLERTON, Calif.—Jason Castro and Sean Ratliff homered and junior lefthander Jeremy Bleich won his first game since February as Stanford defeated Cal State Fullerton in the opener of their super regional series.

Bleich (3-2) went six innings and allowed only three hits and an unearned run for the Cardinal (38-22-2) and beat Jeff Kaplan (11-3) and Fullerton (41-21) for the second time this season.

Jeffrey Inman pitched 2.1 innings and gave up a two-run home run to Erik Komatsu in the eighth inning. Drew Storen got the final two outs with a runner at second base for his seventh save.

Bleich was out of action between March 28 and May 19 due to tendinitis in his pitching elbow. He had thrown only seven innings over two relief appearances and one start since his return.